Wernigerode was an odd little town a few hours by Regional Express (RE slower trains) from Berlin; a long day trip to the Eastern end of the Harz Mountains. The 2002 Lonely Planet Germany guidebook sold the idea to me by using the terms romantic and fairy-tale and then I google imaged “Wernigerode” and found the castle snow covered in twilight or seen from dramatic aerial views and I was doubly sold. So I traveled and found the interior design of a hipster hunting lodge for a young duke, which isn’t to say I was disappointed but perhaps underwhelmed or rather nicely surprised at the modern aesthetic. I say odd because I’ve never been to a small German town where almost every single house in the town center was timbered, the affect was unusual and a bit disconcerting. The “too much timber…” made me feel imprisoned.